Solar power

Solar power, also known as solar electricity, is the conversion of energy from sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV) or indirectly using concentrated solar power. Solar panels use the photovoltaic effect to convert light into an electric current.^[2] Concentrated solar power systems use lenses or mirrors and solar tracking systems to focus a large area of sunlight to a hot spot, often to drive a steam turbine.

Photovoltaics (PV) were initially solely used as a source of electricity for small and medium-sized applications, from the calculator powered by a single solar cell to remote homes powered by an off-grid rooftop PV system. Commercial concentrated solar power plants were first developed in the 1980s. Since then, as the cost of solar panels has fallen, grid-connected solar PV systems' capacity and production has doubled about every three years. Three-quarters of new generation capacity is solar,^[3] with both millions of rooftop installations and gigawatt-scale photovoltaic power stations continuing to be built.

In 2023, solar power systems generated 5% of the world's electricity,^[4] compared to 1% in 2015, when the Paris Agreement to limit climate change was signed.^[5] Along with onshore wind, in most countries, the cheapest levelised cost of electricity for new installations is utility-scale solar.^[6][7]

Almost half the solar power installed in 2022 was rooftop.^[8] Much more low-carbon power is needed for electrification and to limit climate change.^[3] The International Energy Agency said in 2022 that more effort was needed for grid integration and the mitigation of policy, regulation and financing challenges.^[9]